Month: March 2015

Real Madrid draws 1-1 against Villarreal in La Liga

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Real Madrid drew 1-1 against Villarreal and FC Barcelona defeated 3-1 Granada in Spain’s La Liga match day.

With these results, Barcelona managed to place themselves just two points below leader Real Madrid.

Real Madrid and Villarreal drew 1-1 in the game played at Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu stadium on Sunday. Cristiano Ronaldo scored Real Madrid’s goal, and Gerard Moreno scored Villareal’s goal, Xinhua reported.

It was not an easy game for Madrid as the team could not break Villarreal’s strong defence led by Moreno, Pepe and Varane.

Archana Vijaya eliminated from ‘Khatron Ke Khiladi…’

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Video jockey and host Archana Vijaya has become the third contestant from a line-up of 14 to get eliminated from stunt-based reality TV show “Khatron Ke Khiladi – Darr Ka Blockbuster Returns”.

In a four-week journey, Archana, who has hosted Indian Premiere League (IPL) and has appeared as a contestant on dance-based reality show “Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa”, did manage to tackle stunts and overcome most of her fears.

Actors Harshad Arora and Sidharth Bhardwaj were previously ousted in the second and the third week, respectively.

Hindus should not watch films of Khans: Sadhvi Prachi

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Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sadhvi Prachi stirred another controversy with her statement that Hindus should boycott movies by Khan actors in Bollywood as they promote ‘Love Jihad’.

The statement was reportedly made during a Vishwa Hindu Parishad​ (VHP) programme in Dehradun on Sunday.

She further said that Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi should get married to an Indian girl, as per news reports.

This is not the first time that Sadhvi Prachi has been in news for her controversial statement.

‘Grey’s Anatomy’ actress Kim Raver to star on ‘The Advocate’

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Kim K’s lookalike feels resembling ‘talentless’ star has ruined her career
Actress Kim Raver of ’24’ and ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ fame, will star on ABC drama pilot ‘The Advocate’.

Raver, 45, plays tough-as-nails business woman Francis ‘Frankie’ Reese, on the show, reported Variety.

After a dangerous misdiagnosis, her character experiences first-hand the hazards of the US health-care system. She leaves her successful career behind unexpectedly after the medical scare to become an advocate for those lost in the same ever-changing system.

Biel gets surprise visit from husband on set

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Actress Jessica Biel got a surprise visit from her husband Justin Timberlake while filming in New Orleans.

Biel may have thought she was filming just another scene with co-stars Jason Sudeikis and Maisie Williams Thursday afternoon in New Orleans. But in between takes, the pregnant star was joined by Timberlake on the star-studded set, reports eonline.com.

The couple was all smiles as they reunited in chilly temperatures.

Lincoln hints at character Negan’s entry on ‘The Walking Dead’

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Actor Andrew Lincoln says there would be many ‘thrilling’ characters making entry on the next season of ‘The Walking Dead’ and hints that a villain, Negan, is one of them.

The drama is based on Robert Kirkman’s comic book of the same name. Negan is a popular character in the story.

Negan is the leader of a group dubbed Saviors. They use violence to control other colonies including Alexandria where Rick, played by Lincoln, and his friends are about to enter, said The Hollywood Reporter.

Estonia’s pro-NATO Reform party wins parliamentary elections

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Estonia’s governing pro-NATO Reform party topped parliamentary elections, defeating a Kremlin-oriented rival amid concerns over a militarily resurgent Russia, but analysts warned that forging a coalition would be difficult.

President Toomas Hendrik Ilves is expected to ask Reform chief, outgoing Prime Minister Taavi Roivas, to build a coalition on the basis of the 30 seats his party won in the 101-member parliament.

Uma Thurman hates boring children

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“Kill Bill” star Uma Thurman says she would have found it “intolerable” if any of her children were boring.

The 44-year-old, who has daughter Maya, 15, and son Levon, 12, with her former husband Ethan Hawke, and two-year-old Luna with her former partner Arpad Busson, told Britain’s HELLO! Magazine that her children are more “smarter” and “better behaved” than her, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

“They’re much smarter than I am and better behaved. And, thank god, they’re funny, too,” she said.

Bomb blast in Egypt tourist town Aswan kills two

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At least two people were killed and 11 others injured after a bomb blast in South Egypt’s tourist town Aswan city, health officials said today.

Police said it is first such attack in the Egyptian tourist town since a wave of violence following the 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

The incident occurred yesterday when a bomb was detonated at a distance of 20 meter from the rest-house of the Head of Aswan Security Directorate.

Estonia’s Reform party wins vote: official

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Estonia’s governing Reform party has won the parliamentary elections fought amid concerns over a militarily resurgent Russia, official results showed.

President Toomas Hendrik Ilves was expected to ask Reform chief, outgoing Prime Minister Taavi Roivas, to form a coalition with his 30 seats in the 101-member parliament.

Estonians took part in voting yesterday for a new parliament in an election dominated by economic issues and security concerns due to Russia’s actions in Ukraine.

Iraq PM urges forces to spare civilians in Tikrit battle

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Iraq’s prime minister has announced the launch of a military operation to retake Tikrit from the Islamic State jihadist group, urging his troops to spare civilians in the battle.

Haider al-Abadi, speaking from Samarra yesterday, the other main city in the province of Salaheddin, appeared to be addressing fears of reprisals against the Tikrit area’s Sunni population.

“The priority we gave to the armed forces and all the forces taking part alongside them is to preserve the security of citizens,” he told reporters.

Asian firms challenge Apple with snazzy new smartphones

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Several big Asian phone companies launched new high-end smartphones and other wireless gizmos on today, hoping to challenge US giant Apple in a big year for wireless gadgets.

Samsung, fellow South Korean firm LG and hip Chinese maker HTC timed their smartphone launches to grab the attention on the eve of the Mobile World Congress, the world’s biggest telecoms trade fair, in Barcelona, Spain.

Indian-origin man sues Canadian government over wrongful conviction

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An Indo-Canadian man has sued the Canadian federal government over his wrongful conviction in a sexual assault case, a media report said.

Gurdev Singh Dhillon, a former Surrey resident who spent three years in jail for a rape he did not commit and who was subsequently deported, is now suing the provincial and federal governments, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Crown prosecutor Don Wilson and his former defence lawyer Sukhjinder Grewal, Canada’s South Asian Observer reported Friday.

IS frees 19 Syrian Christians as ransom paid: activists

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Islamic State group jihadists today freed 19 of the 220 Assyrian Christians they took hostage in Syria last week, after a ransom was paid for their release, activists said.

“Nineteen Assyrian hostages arrived on Sunday at the Church of Our Lady in Hasakeh after they were released by IS,” said Osama Edward, the director of the Assyrian Network for Human Rights.

“They arrived on two buses from Shaddadeh,” the IS stronghold in the northeastern province of Hasakeh where they had been detained, he told AFP.

‘Rishikesh will continue to be identified as Yoga capital’

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Terming Yoga India’s gift to the world, Union Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma today said that the identity of Rishikesh will continue to be preserved as the Yoga capital.

The minister, who was speaking during the inauguration of the International Yoga Festival, which continues till March 7 at Rishikesh, said there are unlimited opportunities for tourism in the Himalayan state.

CBSE Class X, XII board exams begin today

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Lakhs of students will appear for Central Board of Secondary Education’s (CBSE) Class X and XII exams which begins on Monday.

For Class XII, 10,40,368 students students will appear for exams while 13,73,853 students will give exams for Class X across the country.

The exams for Class X will be held between March 2-26 while those for Class XII will be from March 2-20.

According to a statement issued by the CBSE, 1.01 percentage increase of total students has been recorded in the number of students appearing for exams this year.

Syria rebels reject envoy plan to freeze Aleppo fighting

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Syrian rebel forces in Aleppo today rejected UN envoy Staffan de Mistura’s plan for a freeze in fighting in the divided northern city, dealing a blow to his peace efforts.

“We refuse to meet with Mr Staffan de Mistura if it is not on the basis of a comprehensive solution to Syria’s drama through the exit of (President) Bashar al-Assad and his chief of staff, and the prosecution of war criminals,” a newly-formed Aleppo revolutionary commission said.

Low self-esteem could kill your love life

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If your partner is not engaging in an open and honest conversation about your relationship, it may not be because they do not care but rather because they feel insecure and are afraid of being hurt, finds a study.

People with low self-esteem are more likely stay in unhappy relationships but this could do more harm then good.

Sufferers of low self-esteem do not tend to voice relationship complaints with their partners because they fear rejection.

Prashant Bhushan slams ‘one person-centric campaign’ by AAP, calls for ‘swaraj’

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Crisis deepened in AAP with senior leader Prashant Bhushan accusing the party of running a “one person-centric” campaign revolving around Arvind Kejriwal during the Delhi elections contrary to its principles.

Bhushan said the ‘one person-centric’ campaign was making the party look like other conventional parties and called for more “swaraj” within the organisation.

Land Bill 2015 to take care of all farmers’ concerns

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Union Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers Hansraj Ahir, who had fought for the cause of farmers against Land Acquisition Act, 1894, claimed here today that Land Bill 2015 would take care of all aspects pertaining to farmers.

Addressing reporters on Sunday afternoon, Ahir stressed that Land Acquisition Bill is neither anti-farmer nor anti-poor as perceived by some of the political leaders, but is solely aimed at bringing about greater focus on agriculture and welfare of the farmers.

Nayudamma Awards presented to two woman scientists

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The prestigious Nayudamma Award has been presented jointly to two women scientists – Tessy Thomas, Director of DRDO’s Advanced Systems Laboratory, Hyderabad and Geeta Varadan from ISRO here on Sunday at a function organised by the Nayudamma Memorial Trust.

Magsaysay Award recipient Shanta Sinha and former head of National Child Rights Protection Commission attended the function as a chief guest and presented the awards to the two noted scientists.

Police bust fake currency and drug racket in J-K

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The police has busted a fake currency and drug racket in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district.

According to the Mendhar Sub Divisional police officer, Surinder Kumar Chowdhary, the authorities had been receiving inputs of circulation of fake currency. Several check-points were set up to inspect passers-by.

Chowdhary said that the police had found five suspicious men sitting in an SUV, who did not respond to police queries properly.

Tension in Mathura village after group clash, cross-firing

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Clash and heavy gun firing were reported between people belonging to different communities in Hathia village of Barsana in Mathura this evening, following which a large posse of police personnel is camping in the area.

“Two persons from either side received pellet injury. However, no complaint has been filed. One platoon of PAC, QRT and one fire tender has been deployed in the village,” a police officer said.

‘Sun has maximum impact when the Earth is cooler’

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Giving fresh insight into the role of the Sun in climate change, a new study shows its impact is not constant over time but has greater significance when the Earth is cooler.

During the last 4,000 years, there appears to have been a close correlation between solar activity and the sea surface temperature in summer in the North Atlantic region.

This correlation is not seen in the preceding period.

Rains claim two lives in Amravati

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Two people including a woman died of lightning and electrocution while crops suffered heavy losses as untimely rains lashed the district since yesterday.

Police identified the deceased as Kumarji Punaji Kasdekar, a 40-year-old woman farm labourer from village Bhar in Baitul district and Gaurav Sudhakar Hambarde, a 16-year-old youth.

According to the police, Kumarji and her daughter Babli (18) were working in the farm of Nandu Lohiya in Umri village in Daryapur tehsil of the district, when it rained heavily.